Local dishes

Local dishes

ဘာဟင်းကောင်းလဲ
[ Ba hin kaung le? ]

What is delicious here?

မုန့်ဟင်းခါးတစ်ပွဲ
[ Mon hin ga ta pwe ]

One bowl of Mohinga.

ရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ
[ Shan khauk swe ]

Shan noodles.

လက်ဖက်သုပ်
[ La phet thoke ]

Tea leaf salad.

ကြက်သားဟင်း
[ Kyet tha hin ]

Chicken curry.

ဝက်သားဟင်း
[ Wet tha hin ]

Pork curry.

အမဲသားဟင်း
[ A me tha hin ]

Beef curry.

ငါးဟင်း
[ Nga hin ]

Fish curry.

ထမင်းတစ်ပွဲ
[ Hta min ta pwe ]

One plate of rice.

ထမင်းထပ်ပေးပါ
[ Hta min htat pay ba ]

Extra rice, please.

ထမင်းကြော်
[ Hta min kyaw ]

Fried rice.

ခေါက်ဆွဲကြော်
[ Khauk swe kyaw ]

Fried noodles.

ဟင်းရည်ပေးပါ
[ Hin yay pay ba ]

Give me some soup (usually free broth).

ဝက်သားတုတ်ထိုး
[ Wet tha dote htoe ]

Pork skewers (Street food).

ဇွန်းပေးပါ
[ Zun pay ba ]

Give me a spoon.

ခက်ရင်း
[ Khet yin ]

Fork.

တူ
[ Tu ]

Chopsticks.

ဒါအေးနေတယ်
[ Da aye ne de ]

This is cold.

မကျက်သေးဘူး
[ Ma kyet thay bu ]

It's not cooked yet (undercooked).

အရမ်းစားကောင်းတယ်
[ A yan sa kaung de ]

It is very delicious!

Cultural notes

Ordering food in Myanmar is a glorious culinary adventure, as the country's cuisine is a rich, flavorful tapestry woven from its diverse ethnic groups and neighboring culinary influences from India, China, and Thailand. When sitting down to eat, asking the waiter ဘာဟင်းကောင်းလဲ (ba hin kaung le?) [bà hɪ́ɴ káʊɴ lɛ́], meaning "what is delicious here?", is the absolute best way to discover the house specialty. You absolutely cannot leave Myanmar without trying its beloved national dish, မုန့်ဟင်းခါး (mon hin ga) [mo̰ʊɴ hɪ́ɴ ɡá]. This is a profoundly comforting, fragrant soup made with a lemongrass-infused fish broth poured over thin rice noodles, traditionally eaten for breakfast but widely enjoyed at any time of the day from street-side stalls. For a lighter, incredibly popular lunch, you must order a bowl of ရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ (shan khauk swe) [ʃáɴ kʰaʊʔ sʰwɛ́] or Shan noodles. Originating from the Shan State, this dish features sticky rice noodles bathed in a clear, savory broth or served dry, topped with marinated ground chicken or pork, peanuts, and a side of pickled mustard greens. Perhaps the most globally unique culinary contribution of Myanmar is its tradition of eating tea leaves. You must try လက်ဖက်သုပ် (la phet thoke) [lə pʰɛʔ θoʊʔ], the famous fermented tea leaf salad. This dish is a textural masterpiece, combining the tart, slightly bitter fermented tea leaves with crunchy fried double-garlic, roasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, tomatoes, and a generous squeeze of fresh lime. Furthermore, when you eat at a traditional Burmese curry house, the hospitality is overwhelming: ordering just one main meat dish automatically brings a dazzling array of free side dishes to your table, including a light clear soup, fresh raw vegetables, and a pungent, spicy fish paste dip called *ngapi yay*. Exploring these local dishes is an exploration of Myanmar’s very soul.